Senegalese TV station suspended for ‘inciting violence’ amid clashes

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Authorities in Senegal suspended the signal of a private television station on Sunday after accusing it of inciting violence.

The station affected by the Communication Ministry’s decision is Walf TV, the television broadcast service of the privately owned media group Wal Fadjri.

Ousseynou Dieng, the ministry’s communications director, said the decision was taken in consultation with the National Audiovisual Regulatory Council to order Walf TV to “temporarily cut off its signal for inciting violence.”

The move reportedly followed the station's broadcast of images of protests in the capital Dakar triggered by the postponement of presidential elections, which were scheduled for February.

Wal Fadjri confirmed on social networks a definitive withdrawal of its license by the State after receiving a call from an official of the Communication Ministry.

Earlier on Sunday, clashes broke out in Dakar between security forces and demonstrators protesting against the postponement of the presidential election.

Police fired tear gas canisters to disperse hundreds of protestors led by opposition figures, who responded by pelting stones, footage shared on social media showed.

President Macky Sall on Saturday announced the indefinite suspension of the Feb. 25 presidential election, citing a dispute over the candidate list and alleged corruption of constitutional judges.

But youths chanting “Macky Sall, dictator” who barricaded roads and set fire to tires accused Sall of using “fallacious reasons to postpone the election” hours before the start of the campaigns.

Local media reports said several opposition figures opposed to the postponement of the presidential election, including former Prime Minister Aminata Toure, were arrested during Sunday’s protests.

Lawmakers are due to meet on Monday to consider a bill postponing the presidential election for six months.

Last month, the Senegalese Constitutional Council had approved 20 candidates for the presidential election, and campaigns had been scheduled to begin on Feb. 4.